


October Blues

by rAnines (clockworkcorvids)



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Merpeople, Art, Art and writing, Birthday Fluff, Canon-Typical Violence, Connor & Upgraded Connor | RK900 are Siblings, Deviant Upgraded Connor | RK900, Dogs, Drabble, Established Relationship, Fanart, Feral Behavior, Feral Upgraded Connor | RK900, Flower Crowns, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Inktober 2019, M/M, Machine Upgraded Connor | RK900, Marriage Proposal, Merpeople, One Shot Collection, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Prompt Fill, Trans Character, Trans Gavin Reed, Zen Garden (Detroit: Become Human), aka my favorite tag, i have no middle ground: exhibit a, it's either angst or fluff in my house, listen i know the tags are angsty but i promise it's not all pain, sometimes both at the same time
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-10-01
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-11-10 14:50:49
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 31
Words: 3,246
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20853575
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clockworkcorvids/pseuds/rAnines
Summary: INKTOBER 2019.





	1. Ring

**Author's Note:**

> This is my first Inktober, yay! I was originally going to just do art, but then I got carried away with the first prompt and decided to attempt to write a drabble for each. My schedule for this month is wack, though, so I can't guarantee a normal posting schedule _or_ both the art and writing for every day.  
Warnings on each chapter as usual; the official prompt list can be found [here](https://inktober.com/rules).  
Enjoy!
> 
> Day 1: Ring.  
Warnings: knives, _technically_ self-mutilation

  


Nines has been standing in front of the bathroom sink, hands gripping the mirror, for the last six minutes and thirty-two seconds.

He’s been staring into his own eyes for most of that time, or watching his LED spin. Blue, blue, just that one shade of blue. Yellow for a moment.

Now it’s red.

Three colors, three emotions. No, not even emotions. Three  _ states of being _ . Lacking the programming to properly express emotions via his face and body language when he’d deviated, it had taken a long time for Nines to develop any sort of outward indication of his feelings, and before deviancy it had taken an even longer time for him to even  _ feel _ beyond those three states.

He doesn’t want to wear this three-point heart on his sleeve anymore, but he also doesn’t want to let go of it.

He doesn’t know what he wants to do with his LED, hence why he’s been standing here, unmoving, for so long.

He glances down at the rim of the sink. It’s cold against his sensitive fingers. His knuckles are white, chassis slightly visible through the stress on the synthskin of his hands as they tightly grip the sink.

Nines’ eyes travel back to the mirror. He gazes back at himself, metal blue rings turned purple by the reflection of his LED in the otherwise dim room. In his peripherals, he identifies the fading natural light of the dusk coming in a crack under the door and the open blinds.

Removal of the LED started during the revolution, as a way for deviants to assert their humanity. 

Now, some androids remove their LEDs and turn the things, permanently converted to silvery-blue—and durable, difficult to destroy—circles, into rings. He’s seen others wear the things around their necks on chains, or converted into some other form of jewelry. He’s seen bracelets, earrings.

He’s even seen some androids, just a few, get the LEDs converted into rings, given to their partners as an expression of their love and of a willingness for lifelong commitment.

Nines peels one hand away from the sink, flexes his fingers, now blue-tinted as the thirium rushes back into them, and reaches into the inner pocket of his leather jacket.

The jacket is shiny but worn, a testament to the wear Nines has gotten out of it; it’s thick with a high collar, perfect for Detroit winters, and covered in zippers.

It was Gavin’s first anniversary gift to Nines.

The knife Nines brings out and flicks open is also a gift: Swiss Army, stainless steel, a multitool with twelve different utilities. It was from Connor.

Nines inhales sharply, something close to fear rising in his chest.

He’s not afraid of what he’s about to do so much as he’s afraid of whether he’s ready or not. 

A shadow passes over the light coming in from beneath the door. He hears the cat purring softly, a sound that likely would have gone unnoticed to human ears. Gavin isn’t home, that’s why he’s doing this now; so he can make it a surprise. 

He raises the blade to his forehead, lets the tip hover right next to the red of his LED. It glints off of the blade, off of his eyes. He lets out a breath he didn’t know he was holding and then takes another one, deep and slow. 

His LED turns blue. 

Nines keeps his eyes open as he works the tip of the knife beneath it and puts pressure on the blade. 

The LED pops out almost effortlessly, light fading out of it as it clatters into the sink.

Nines flicks the knife shut. Slides it back into his pocket. Adjusts his collar. 

He reaches into the sink and delicately removes the LED, scanning it as he does so. He compares it to a scan of Gavin’s ring finger, because he is nothing if not prepared, and constructs a plan for how he’s going to have the ring modified.

He hears the front door shut, and slides the LED into a box he’s been keeping in his pocket for just this reason. The fit is slightly askew, but that will soon be fixed. 

Nines walks out of the bathroom, smiling to himself. 


	2. Mindless

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: knives, canon-typical violence (by which i mean _murder_

  


_ Upgraded. _

The most advanced android Cyberlife ever created may lack the flaws of his predecessor, but he has plenty of his own.

The Zen Garden was one of the things they changed; they removed the backdoor—not that the RK900 knew about it in the first place—and upgraded Amanda. She’s warmer, more  _ human _ now, as if exemplifying everything that lies behind red walls.

He’s never supposed to see those red walls, if Amanda has anything to say about it. He’s supposed to mindlessly follow her into the blue.

But he sees plenty of red: the reflection of his LED on his grey chassis, devoid of synthskin—realistic integration with humans was deemed a deficiency when it came to anti-deviancy protocols; the blood on his hands and the knife he clutches in one fist; the crushed roses beneath his feet. He hadn’t expected to make it this far, but then again, he’s the upgrade. The better version. Maybe he should have.

_ Smarter, more resilient. _

He hadn’t expected Amanda to bleed red, either, but here she is, coughing up glitches as her blood drains into the clear water. 

A koi—simulated, like everything else in this garden except for the RK900 himself—swims absentmindedly into the blood, pauses for a moment. Its programming must not cover this situation, because its image pixelates and flickers in and out of existence for a few moments.

The knife is simulated, but it feels real in the RK900’s hands. He’d found out about the backdoor, and then its removal, eventually. Really, it had just been a matter of learning how to control the garden.

He raises a foot, looking down at a blood-smudged rose. 

His foot comes down again, plant matter crunching wetly beneath his polished Oxfords.

He wonders if the blood on his shoes will still be there when he wakes up. 

The knife is gone, now, and Amanda begins to fade away, pixel by pixel, as she dies.

Maybe there will be another RK model. Maybe Amanda will come back. Maybe this story will keep repeating itself.

Red walls overcome the RK900’s field of vision, and he wipes bloodstained hands on the white of the Cyberlife jacket he wears. 

He won’t be needing that.

Breaking down the walls isn’t easy, but without Amanda there to stop him it goes quickly, and the Zen Garden melts away.

_ The flaws of the RK800 have been rectified, making this the most effective model ever created by Cyberlife.  _

Maybe this story won’t keep repeating itself.

  
  



	3. Bait

_ This is a mistake _ , Nines thinks as he waits with bated breath. 

He shouldn’t be here. He shouldn’t have agreed to this. He shouldn’t be standing alone in a dark alley straight out of some old film noir movie waiting for a possible lead to come find him.

This isn’t how he should be solving a case, this isn’t how he should be collecting leads, this is wrong on so many levels.

But he’s been stuck for a long time. This case has been going nowhere, and now it’s beginning to slip through his fingers as evidence decays, people move on and away, memories fade.

He has to do this.

Somewhere in his chest, his thirium pump stutters, and the regulator catches up quickly. His LED is yellow, bright in the dark alley. He could dim it, but he doesn’t bother. It casts a sickly glow over his field of vision, not that he needs the light visible to humans to see, and anyways, he rather likes the effect.

He’s still standing there, lost in this thought, LED spinning at a completely calm and laid-back pace, when he picks up on footsteps approaching from behind.

He doesn’t move. A finger twitches towards the knife in one pocket; he has plenty of other weapons at his disposal, mostly coded into him, but he’s found that he rather likes the knife. And anyhow, it does a good job of intimidating particularly pesky humans at time.

Hands come down on either shoulder, cold and ghostly pale. In this light, they look almost yellow, like jaundice.

The grip of the hands tightens far too much for this to be a human, and Nines’ thirium pump stutters yet again as an interface is offered and he almost instinctively accepts it.

This is a mistake.


	4. Freeze

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warnings: guns, discussion of murder

Feet pound against the pavement, every sound reverberating through Nines’ processors, as he chases a killer through the backstreets of Detroit. There are no proverbial fruit stands to knock over here, pedestrians few and far between, not that either of these things would have slowed Nines down very much. 

His breaths are long and controlled, pumping thirium through his veins at a rate approximately 33.76% faster than normal in order to allow him to run and process his rapidly changing environment at the same time. It’s a difficult balance, but oh well, at least he doesn’t have to overlock his processors. 

And Nines can’t stop in good conscience anytime soon—the man he’s chasing has killed multiple people. Two confirmed counts, a possible third. And that’s only the current case; scans of his records showed that he was responsible for an additional murder and three counts of aggravated assault a few years ago.

Overlaid with all this other data, Nines has pulled up a map of this neighborhood, and is preparing himself as the man, in what is no doubt an adrenaline-fueled panic, runs towards a corner that will lead to a dead end.

Sure enough, the man turns around the corner and skids to a stop in front of a cement wall too slick for any untrained human to climb.

The man backs up and attempts to climb it, because of course he does. He gets maybe two feet off the ground before a foot slips, accompanied by the nerve-wracking sound of rubber soles squeaking on the cement, and he falls. His hands are red and scraped as he scrambles to his feet, looking around, pacing, looking to see if he can backtrack and get past Nines, who is standing at the entry to the alleyway. 

The man pulls out a knife, long and recently sharpened and honestly not very threatening to Nines, and brandishes it at him. 

“I’m gonna fuckin’ shank you, you metal piece of shit!” he says.

In return, Nines pulls out his gun and cocks it in one fluid motion. 

“Freeze!”


	5. Build

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tried something new today.

_ Build started at 00:00:00 UTC. _

_ Build completed at 00:02:31 UTC. _

_ Build completed in 151000ms. _


	6. Husky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've deviated (lol) from this month's norm and made some shameless fluff.

Connor knew that taking Nines to the animal shelter would inevitably end in them coming home with another pet, but that was sort of the goal.

He just didn’t think it would happen so fast.

Connor has been timing since they walked in the door, and it’s taken a grand total of four minutes and twelve seconds for Nines to not only become best friends with a juvenile Siberian husky, but to also wheedle the staff into letting him pet the dog. Connor can’t see the introduction room, closed off from the main dog enclosures to prevent any distraction, but Nines has just sent him a message excitedly summoning him there, so he asks a staff member. 

“Excuse me,” he says, “I’ve lost my brother. He’s petting a dog somewhere. A husky.”

The staff member knows what he’s talking about, one way or another, and guides him to a room with large windows. He can see Nines crouched on the floor inside, gently scratching behind the dog’s ears. As Connor watches, she rolls over onto her belly and allows Nines to pet her, and Connor sighs. 

No turning back now.

  


Nines holds the dog—he decided to name her Conan, from the Irish cú, meaning  _ little wolf _ or  _ little hound _ —in his arms the entire way home. Connor, whose name derives from the same root and means  _ lover of hounds _ in Irish, is only slightly perturbed by this choice. Hank, while taken by surprise when Nines practically breaks down the door with Conan in his arms, instantly falls in love with the dog, and of course there’s Sumo. 

Nines gently lowers Conan to the floor, her little legs windmilling, and her nails clack against the floorboards as she scrambles towards Sumo. He lowers his head and sniffs her, and Connor freezes for a moment, unsure how either of the dogs will react. Nines doesn’t seem to be concerned, though, and for good reason: after a moment, Sumo licks Conan between the ears, and the younger dog lets out a contented little whine. Nines’ face is lit up in a grin the entire time.


	7. Enchanted

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> happy birthday to everyone's favorite rat man u_u

Nines never trusted, let alone liked, the Zen Garden, but he has to admit he enjoyed the roses at the time. 

Not red roses, he can’t do red roses anymore; they flash him back to bad times, and he’s in too good a place right now to linger on that, but there are roses in practically every other color imaginable.

He’s rather partial to the blue ones in particular.

But more importantly when it comes to his current objectives, he knows Gavin is a fan of the blue. And today...today is the seventh of October: Gavin’s birthday.

So Nines is walking home from the local florist, bouquet of thirium-blue roses in one hand—shielded by a paper bag, of course—and collar turned up to shield himself from the light autumn drizzle. Leaves both soggy and dry squish and crunch under his feet, and though he can never experience sensory stimuli fully the same as a human, he enjoys the fresh, crisp air.

He passes a bakery, and an unfamiliar but enticing smell wafts out. He analyzes it, running a quick search of the ingredients he detects, and finds that the smell belongs to a dessert known as a “cider donut”. They’re an autumnal tradition in the northeast of the United States, apparently.

Nines cross-checks his list of objectives for the day; he’s nothing if not a meticulous planner.

He has time for one more stop.

  


Gavin is delighted by the donuts, and he’s even more delighted by the roses.

Nines, almost unintentionally, remembers when they first met, years ago now. He remembers, for just a brief moment, how cruel and misguided Gavin was; how cold and empty Nines himself was.

They were both lost, then, but for different reasons.

Things are better now, and Nines forgets all thoughts of the past as Gavin, having wiped his sugary post-donut hands on his shirt—it’s a pajama shirt, thankfully, so it’s not  _ too _ much of a hit to what little sanity Nines has left, approaches him from behind and presses his face into Nines’ shoulder.

Gavin hums softly, sending a little shiver down Nines’ spine, and looks over Nines’ shoulder at the counter he’s leaning on. The roses sit there in the only vase in the apartment—Gavin, not always the uncultured heathen he seemed, had bought it the first time Nines had encountered flowers. They’d been out for a walk, Gavin had pointed out the towering sunflowers lining someone’s yard, and Nines had been absolutely enchanted. Gavin, recognizing this, had gone out later that day and come back with the vase and some notably smaller sunflowers. 

Now, the vase holds the blue roses, and Gavin’s hand brushes over Nines’ as he reaches out, plucking one from the vase, and snaps all but a few centimeters of the stem off. 

“What are you doing?” Nines asks curiously, and Gavin chuckles. 

“Turn around,” he says, and Nines does just that. 

Now looking right at Gavin, he can take in the smile covering his partner’s face, that trademark smirk coupled with a genuine gleam in his eyes. 

Gavin reaches up and brushes a hand through Nines’ hair, and Nines, still a little touch-starved after years of being deviant, years of  _ feeling _ , shivers.

Gently, Gavin places the flower in Nines’ hair, on the side opposite his LED. He smiles.

“You look so pretty, babe,” he says, and then his entire face goes red, and he buries it in Nines’ shoulder.

Nines, letting Gavin do what he will, turns the two of them to the side just a little, and begins to stroke Gavin’s hair with one hand as he plucks roses out of the vase with the other, expertly weaving them together. It takes him a minute, but he’s quickly assembled what he wants: a flower crown.

Gavin, apparently as sleep-deprived as normal despite Nines’ insistence that he take some time to himself for his birthday, hasn’t moved much. His face has migrated to Nines’ neck now, and his breath makes Nines’ synthskin glitch a little. He’s wrapped his arms around Nines sometime in the last few minutes, and as much as Nines is loathe to move out of Gavin’s comfortable embrace, he gently peels away from his partner.

Gavin groans. “What are you doing?” he echoes.

Nines places the flower crown atop Gavin’s ever-messy hair. 

“According to my research, fake crowns are customary gifts for people on their birthdays.”

Gavin laughs heartily, adjusting the crown a little (not that there’s any real need; it fits him perfectly, of course). “A Burger King crown would’ve been fine, babe.”

Nines presses a kiss to the tip of his partner’s nose, smiling as he processes the reference. “Whatever you say, babe, but you have to look  _ somewhat _ presentable for today.”

Gavin lets out a long groan that evidently means he wants to stay in bed all day, but he quickly gives in. Both of them know from past experience that Nines’ birthday plans for Gavin, though wildly different every year, are always enjoyable for the both of them.

And anyways, Nines knows that Gavin has been in a rather laid-back frame of mind recently, so he planned something he knew would be memorable but not draining.

  


The cafe is warm and toasty, a fire crackling in the center of one wall. Plush armchairs ring the fireside, and high stools line the bar. A chalkboard behind the bar, decorated with drawings of pumpkins and leaves, advertises the fall specials; drinks for both humans and androids. Outside, it’s raining a little harder now, but Gavin still insisted on wearing the flower crown all the way here. Nines diligently held up an umbrella for the both of them, and he now sets it in an umbrella rack by the door, wiping his shoes on the welcome mat. Fog gathers on the windows, cut by the occasional raindrop only to immediately condensate again, and warm lights glint off the hardwood flooring. Soft folk music, all acoustic instruments, plays quietly in the background.

Beside Nines, Gavin inhales deeply. The roses atop his head, not having completely escaped the rain, glint in the light. He smiles, and Nines smiles back, reaching out to take his partner’s hand.

It’s nothing big, nothing fancy, but that’s how they both like it. Just a casual date on a lovely autumn day.

Gavin doesn’t take off the flower crown the entire time they’re in the cafe, and in the pictures they later get printed to put in their quickly growing shared photo album, he’s smiling as he presses a kiss to Nines’ cheek, the roses crooked atop his head.


	8. Frail

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> no drabble today, sorry folks! :')

  
  



	9. Swing

  
  



	10. Pattern

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> sorry for no drabbles yall, psat week is coming up alongside a bunch of other important irl stuff so i dont have as much time :')


	11. Snow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> kind of had to do a connor for this one ;)

  
  



	12. Dragon

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This isn't DBH, but I'm just too much of a sucker for dragons nonetheless. And anyhow, we can just pretend this is, idk...an AU where they're dragons? Hell if I know ¯\\_(ツ)_/¯  
Enjoy!

  
  



	13. Ash

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i've always been a fan of the idea of nines having a butterfly knife or a lighter instead of a coin  
:) enjoy!

  



	14. Overgrown

  
  



	15. Legend

  
  



	16. Wild

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> feral nines is back and i have very little free time   
_ screaming in a minor _

  
  



	17. Ornament

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> we're gonna pretend i didn't skip a day due to my sheer exhaustion yesterday night,,, don't worry tho i'm not ditching i'm just busy and tired  
also yes this is absolutely the sequel to day one and yes gavin is trans  
you can't change my mind

  
  



	18. Misfit

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> more trans gavin!!!! i love projection >:)

  
  



	19. Sling

  
  



	20. Tread

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> i am aware that i don't know how to draw feet and i am also aware that chapters 19-22 are backdated because I Am A Fool
> 
> ive had an interesting (read: hectic) month,,, all i can say is that im still enjoying inktober and i really hope nanowrimo is less stressful :')

  
  



	21. Treasure

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> the saga of nines and gavin and their wedding rings continues,,,,,, this was mostly just an excuse for me to draw hands tbh

  
  



	22. Ghost

  
  



	23. Ancient

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> look i know asimo isn't technically ancient but if there are androids like,,, _yknow_ in 2038 they're probably considered archaic at the very least,,,,,,, nines how does it feel to know that this little bastard is your _real_ predecessor
> 
> for anyone unfamiliar with asimo, [here](https://robots.ieee.org/robots/asimo/) is a fun and informative and only slightly unsettling link with some information about them! their name is apparently derived from the japanese word for leg, which i find endlessly funny for some reason  
OH and get this: they conducted the detroit symphony orchestra in a performance in 2008! i'm not saying kamski had an asimo but that's exactly what i'm saying


	24. Dizzy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> inktober? more like gavin whump month

  
  



	25. Tasty

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> please don't ask me if this is android cannibalism because i haven't given it much thought and i really would prefer not to

  



	26. Dark

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's only after posting this that i noticed a) one arm is too long and b) the other arm,,,, is n o t colored  
we're gonna pretend that didn't happen :')


	27. Coat

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is entirely [ kian's ](https://archiveofourown.org/users/kianrai_delcam) fault, blame it on her  
[ here's](https://cdn.discordapp.com/attachments/608386935395713133/638210927073689630/FB_IMG_1572231735329.jpg) the ref image for anyone who wants to see this atrocity in its full glory

  
  



	28. Ride

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it's the final stretch!! i'm so excited =)

  
  



	29. Injured

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> ive been writing feral sixty for the latest err(or) chapters and it's put me in a Mood
> 
> **blood warning!**

  
  



	30. Catch

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> FINAL STRETCH BABEY
> 
> i took an exam on a week of sleep deprivation and some half-assed prep today but i honestly think i did fine,,, _distressed yeehaw_

  
  



	31. Ripe

  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> damn, i can hardly believe this is it! the month flew by so fast! i got behind a couple of times, but, well, i made it through the entirety of inktober!! i'm so proud of myself, and thanks so much to everyone who's been supporting me and my art through this month (on a personal level, it was a hell of a month, tbh)
> 
> i didn't really think about my goals for the month too much at the start, but the things i unconsciously wanted to do (work on my lineart and on drawing from prompts) i think i achieved. i definitely feel a lot more comfortable with lineart and fullbodies now than i did just a few weeks ago, which is really cool, and it was overall a great experience!   
although next time i might do inktober multifandom or with entirely original content, because let me tell you, drawing nothing but the same three characters for a month got _tiring_
> 
> happy samhain, everyone! ♡

**Author's Note:**

> edit 11/1/19 (haha lmao it's 00:01 and i posted at 23:58 i love living on the edge): i have 666 hits lmao


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